Nasal congestion is a common condition that seriously affects the quality of life. Nasal congestion; It may occur due to anatomical problems in the nasal structures or inflammatory problems that cause swelling in the tissues inside the nose.
Among the most important causes of nasal congestion in adults; There are curvatures in the nasal septum, which is the middle compartment of the nose, and growth in the nasal turbinates on both sides of this compartment, and rarely in the adenoid located at the back of the nose.
Nasal Congestion Symptoms
- Difficulty in breathing through the nose (unilateral or bilateral)
- Breathing through the mouth
Causes of Nasal Congestion
- The middle part of the nose or the nasal septum divides the nose in half and the front part consists of cartilage and the back part consists of bone.
- The rate of curvature in the middle part of the nose is observed at a very high rate, but this curvature is not always present. It may not cause nasal congestion in humans.
- There are structures called intranasal turbinates that warm and moisten the air we breathe on both sides of this compartment in the nose. These structures may grow due to the curvature of the nose, or reasons such as allergy and weather change may cause growth in these structures without curvature in the middle section of the nose.
- Adenoid (adenoid) tissue, which is located at the back of the nose and often loses its effect after puberty. It may cause nasal congestion if it grows too much.
Treatment of Nasal Congestion
- Septoplasty:If the nose It is recommended for the patient if the curvature in the middle compartment causes the patient to complain of nasal congestion. This procedure is often performed through the nose, but if the curvature is too forward or too high, open technical interventions may be required. Under normal conditions, there is no change in the shape of the nose in interventions made for the middle part of the nose. Sometimes rhinoplasty interventions are performed together with septoplasty. Although these interventions are generally performed for aesthetic concerns, sometimes these two interventions can be performed together for this purpose, as it is necessary to correct the curvatures in the bone in order to correct the curvature in the cartilage. A. After surgery, tampons may or may not be placed, depending on the physician's preference. Tampons have also developed with technology, and the tampons used in the past, which could stick to the surrounding tissues and cause serious discomfort to patients during removal, are no longer used today.
- Turbinate interventions:Intranasal turbinates are normal as they warm and humidify the air we inhale. It is part of healthy breathing. Therefore, when these structures become too large, they are reduced in size rather than removed. There are many different applications for this process. Among these; Methods such as radiofrequency reduction, ultrasonic aspiration, and microbrider reduction are frequently applied. The main purpose of these procedures is to create a remaining turbinate that performs its normal functions but is at the smallest size. The main risk of these interventions is that regrowth may occur in the turbinate structure. Tampons are generally not used after these interventions.
- Adenoidectomy:It is the removal of enlarged adenoids. Although this condition is frequently observed in children, it can sometimes be observed in adults as well. Removal of the adenoid is done by lifting the palate up from the mouth. In addition to the classical scraping method, the plasma method has also been used frequently recently. Since adenoids observed in adults may sometimes be associated with nasopharyngeal cancer, histopathological examination should be performed in these patients.
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